Monday, October 10, 2016

Vatican Museums install defibrillators in case of heart attacks

The
Vatican Museums has installed 18 automated external defibrillators
(AEDs) and trained 300 staff in their use to become the first museum in
Italy to be “Heart Friendly,” in order to provide greater protection to
the 6 million people who visit the Museums every year.

The programme – explained on Wednesday – was created in collaboration
with the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital and the
Department of Health and Welfare of the Governorate of Vatican City
State, with training supervised by the American Heart Association.

“For us, it is an honour and a duty to make available to the Vatican
Museums our years of expertise to help protect the lives of the
thousands of people who each day admire the masterpieces preserved in
this place,” said Mariella Enoc, the President of the Bambino Gesù.

The AED
is a computerized medical device which can check a person’s heart
rhythm, and recognize if it is a rhythm that requires an electric shock
to stabilize.

The AED uses voice prompts, lights and text messages to
assist the rescuer in determining what steps to take.

The AEDs in the Vatican Museums will allow staff to intervene quickly
if someone has a heart attack, since each additional minute without an
intervention decreases the change of survival by 6-10%.

This will
minimize the risk of a person dying while waiting for the arrival of an
ambulance to take them to the hospital.

Although the devices have become more common in public facilities in the United States, they are not frequently seen in Italy.

"It is our obligation to provide the best standards of safety in the
Museums,” said Antonio Paolucci, the Director of the Vatican Museums.

“Those who come to see the Museum collections of the Pope should know
that it is a monitored and safe place, where even a cardiac crisis is
tended to as soon as possible, and with the best technical equipment
available,” Paolucci added.